Package seal and label



April 4, 1939. c. NEWMAN PACKAGE SEAL AND LABEL Filed Dec. 6, 1957Patented Apr. 4, 1939 PACKAGE SEAL AND LABEL Claude Newman, Lincoln,Nebn, assignor to American Seal Company, Lincoln, Nebr., a corporationof Nebraska Application December 6, 1937, Serial No. 178,402

I M 2 Claims. This invention relates to labels or seals, and

more particularly to'a combined label and seal for use in closing bagsof flexible material such as ordinarily used by grocers and otherdealers for packaging their goods.

The invention is particularly useful for closing bags made of cellulosesheeting such as that commonly sold under the name Cellophane.

The present application is a continuation in part of my prior copendingapplication Serial No. 136,904, filed April 14, 1937.

An object of the invention is to provide a combined seal and label whichmay be readily applied to a bag by the dealer so as to close the sameand which may also conveniently display the dealer's name or otheradvertising matter, as well as the contents of the package.

Another object is to provide sealing means of this nature comprising anadhesive which does not require moistening'but which will cling to thematerial of the bag simply by being applied thereto and pressedthereagainst.

A still further object is to provide sealing means of this characteremploying a non-drying adhesive, so that, after having been applied to acellulose bag it may be readily stripped therefrom for the purpose ofopening the bag, without damage to the latter, and may subsequently beapplied again to the bag so as to reseal the same.

A still further object is to provide a seal of the above nature in whicha non-adhesive portion is provided at one corner to facilitate strippingit from the bag.

Still another object of the invention is to so devise my improvedcombined seal and label that a plurality of them may be assembled insuperposed relation to form a pack or pad, and may be readily strippedfrom such pack or pad one at a time as needed.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed,and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bag or package closed by means of myimproved combination seal and label;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the face or adhesive side of thecombined seal and label;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a pack or pad formed by superposing aplurality of the improved labels, this view illustrating the back ornon-adhesive side of the label;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale takensubstantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of thearrows; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the face of a modified construction oflabel.

Referring to the drawing in detail, my improved combined seal and labelcomprises a rectangular sheet of paper or the like I. This is cut awayat one end along a line preferably parallel with the end as shown at 2so as to provide a notch, this notch, however, terminating short of oneside edge of the sheet so as to form a corner portion or tab 3. A strip4 preferably formed of cellulose sheeting tape is coated on one side asindicated at 5 with a non-drying, pressure sensitive adhesive materialwhich may preferably be of the nature disclosed in Patent No. 1,814,132to Drew, dated- July 14, 1931. This strip is applied to one face of thesheet I. The strip extends transversely of the sheet and has its endsterminating flush with the side edges of the sheet. The strip is of awidth greater than the depth of the notch above referred to so that itoverlaps the portion of the sheet adiacent the notch and a portion ofthe adhesive material is exposed through the notch. By reference to Fig.2 it will be seen that the strip 4 extends across the tab 3 so that thistab protects or covers one corner portion of the strip and renders itnonadhesive at that point.

At the opposite end of the sheet I a similar strip 6, preferably ofcellulose sheetingtape, and coated with the above described non-dryingadhesive, is applied transversely across the sheet in such manner thatit projects beyond the end of the same, so that a portion of theadhesive coating 5 is exposed.

Inpractice a plurality of the labels such as shown in Fig. 2 areassembled in superposed relation to form a pack or pad as illustrated inFig. 3. The adhesive on the faceof each strip 6 clings to the back ofthe strip immediately below it, and the adhesive on each strip 4 clingsto the back of the strip immediately below it. Owing to the fact thatthe tabs 3 at one corner rprevent the labels from adhering to each otherat that point, the tab of the uppermost label may be readily grasped andthis label easily stripped from the pack.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated at A a bag of the usual type having itsupper portion folded over as at a. One of my improved sealing labels,having been stripped off from the pack as above described, is thenapplied to the bag as shown in Fig. 1, the adhesive on the strip 6 beingapplied to and engaging the side of the bag, and that portion of theadhesive on the strip 4, exposed through the notch in the end of thelabel, is applied to and engages the folded over portion of the bag. Thebag is thus securely sealed. 4

Although my improved seal, and label may b used in connection withordinary paper bags, it has special utility when used on bags ofcellulose sheeting such as Cellophane. When used on such cellulosebagsthe label may be readily stripped therefrom, by grasping thenon-adhesive corner or. tab 3 thereof, without damaging either the labelor the bag. The non-drying adhesive on the strip 4 retains its tackinessowing to the fact that the cellulose sheeting is nonflbrous, and noparticles stick to the adhesive coating so as to destroy itseffectiveness. Therefore, after the bag has been closed again it may berescaled simply by pressing the coated strip 4 down upon the surface ofthe bag again. Thus the bag may be opened and closed as often asdesired, and the adhesive will retain its efliciency.

, Owing to the fibrous nature of the paper sheet I the bond between theadhesive on the strip 4 and such paper is stronger than the bond betweenthe strip and the cellulose sheeting bag, so that the strip may bereadily separated from the bag without any tendency to break it loosefrom the paper sheet I. The same is true of the coated strip 8 at theopposite end of the label.

While-as above described the use of cellulose tape is preferred, and hasits advantages, the

invention is not necessarily limited to such tape.

In Fig. 5 I have shown how, instead of employing this tape, thenon-drying adhesive may be applied in transverse zones directly to thematerial I, of the label, as indicated at 5 and 5". In this case thezone 5' does not extend entirely across the end of the label butterminates short of the side edge thereof so as to leave an uncoatedportion or tab 3. The entire label I may be formed of cellulose sheetingif desired.

What I claim is:

1. A package seal comprising an elongated sheet of rectangular formhaving a transverse zone of non-drying adhesive at one end, the otherend of the sheet being cut away on a transverse line extending partlyacross the same to provide a notch and a corner portion forming a tab,and-- a strip coated with non-drying adhesive applied to one face of thesheet at the notched end and extending transversely entirely across thesame, whereby the adhesive is exposed through said notch, but covered atthe corner by said tab.

2. A package seal comprising an elongated sheet of paper or the likehaving a strip of cellulose sheeting tape coated with a non-dryingadhesive applied thereto at each end and extending transversely thereof,said strip projecting beyond the paper, so that a portion of theadhesive is exposed, a corner of the sheet being extended at one end toa point flush with the outer edge of the strip, so as to overlie thesame and provide a non-adhesive tab at such corner.

- CLAUDE NEWMAN.

